{"id":922481,"date":"2026-07-25T21:15:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/matchday-18-hell-is-real-cali-clasico-griezmanns-home-debut-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T21:15:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:15:05","slug":"matchday-18-hell-is-real-cali-clasico-griezmanns-home-debut-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/matchday-18-hell-is-real-cali-clasico-griezmanns-home-debut-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Matchday 18: Hell is Real, Cali Cl\u00e1sico &#038; Griezmann&#8217;s home debut! | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<article xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>What better way to get back into the MLS regular season swing than big-time rivalry showdowns?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>That&#8217;s just what Matchday 18 has in store, starting with the latest chapter of Hell is Real, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/columbus-crew\/\">Columbus Crew<\/a> hosting fierce rival <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/fc-cincinnati\/\">FC Cincinnati<\/a>, and ending with the California Cl\u00e1sico, as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/san-jose-earthquakes\/\">San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> clash with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/la-galaxy\/\">LA Galaxy<\/a> at Stanford Stadium.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Oh, and in between, there&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/antoine-griezmann\/\">Antoine Griezmann<\/a>&#8216;s home debut with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/orlando-city\/\">Orlando City<\/a> taking on Supporters&#8217; Shield-leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/nashville-sc\/\">Nashville SC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLS\/status\/2080729098129735972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>WHEN:<\/strong> Saturday, 7:15 pm ET<\/li>\n<li><strong>WATCH:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.cr\/4eVIHvy\">Apple TV<\/a>, FS1, FOX Deportes<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>This is the 22nd edition of the Hell is Real derby, with Columbus holding a 9W-6L-6D edge. The rivals have split a pair of Audi MLS Cup Playoffs meetings, with FC Cincinnati winning last year&#8217;s Round One Best-of-3 Series.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Cincy are coming off a thrilling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2026\/matches\/cinvsvan-07-22-2026\/\">4-3 home win<\/a> over Western Conference-leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/vancouver-whitecaps-fc\">Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a>. Star playmaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/evander\/\">Evander<\/a> delivered 1g\/1a, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/pavel-bucha\/\">Pavel Bucha<\/a> scored a brace for the Orange &#038; Blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Columbus, meanwhile, will look to turn the page on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2026\/matches\/clbvsnyc-07-22-2026\/\">2-1 midweek home defeat<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/new-york-city-football-club\">New York City FC<\/a>. Newly-acquired Designated Player <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/columbus-crew-acquire-dp-midfielder-brais-mendez-from-real-sociedad\">Brais M\u00e9ndez<\/a> was in attendance at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, but didn&#8217;t suit up for the Crew. Will he make his MLS debut in Hell is Real?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>WHEN:<\/strong> Saturday, 7:30 pm ET<\/li>\n<li><strong>WATCH:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.cr\/4aYedrN\">Apple TV<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Antoine Griezmann has proved an instant hit for Orlando City, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/antoine-griezmann-scores-first-mls-goal\">scoring<\/a> on his MLS debut as the Lions cruised to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2026\/matches\/sjvsorl-07-22-2026\/\">4-0 win<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/san-jose-earthquakes\">San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> on Wednesday in arguably their finest performance of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Griezmann is set to make his first appearance in front of his new fans when the Lions welcome Supporters&#8217; Shield-leading Nashville SC to Inter.co Stadium on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Can Orlando keep the Grizi-inspired vibes going against the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/hany-mukhtar\/\">Hany Mukhtar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/sam-surridge\/\">Sam Surridge<\/a> and Co.?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>WHEN:<\/strong> Saturday, 10:30 pm ET<\/li>\n<li><strong>WATCH:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/soc.cr\/3RlrbsM\">Apple TV<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s one of the most storied rivalries in MLS, and when the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy square off in front of an expected bumper crowd at Stanford Stadium, it will be their 105th all-time meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Galaxy have a 54W-34L-20D lead, but the Quakes have the edge of late, winning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2025\/matches\/lavssj-05-28-2025\/\">1-0<\/a> at Dignity Health Sports Park and playing to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2025\/matches\/sjvsla-06-28-2025\/\">1-1 draw<\/a> at Stanford Stadium last season.<\/p>\n<p>Can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/timo-werner\/\">Timo Werner<\/a> inspire San Jose to victory in his first Cali Cl\u00e1sico, or will the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/marco-reus\/\">Marco Reus<\/a>-led Galaxy play spoiler and, in the process, snap a three-game winless streak?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/matchday-18-hell-is-real-cali-clasico-griezmann-s-home-debut\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Randy Stoval<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer What better way to get back into the MLS regular season swing than big-time rivalry showdowns? That&#8217;s just what Matchday 18 has in store, starting with the latest chapter of Hell is Real, with Columbus Crew hosting fierce rival FC Cincinnati, and ending with the California Cl\u00e1sico, as the San Jose Earthquakes clash with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":922482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114416,119564,2005],"tags":[114415,119563],"class_list":["post-922481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-clasico","category-matchday","category-soccer","tag-clasico","tag-matchday"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/922482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}